Published:
07/15/2014 12:30am
Don't Hit Snooze: My Top Five Reasons
Early risers are good planners and night owls are creative. Which one will you prefer the good planner or creative. I strongly advice you to choose the good planner. About a month ago, i wrote a blog post about how the
Islamic call to prayer makes me time conscious and this time management hack from Islam has been helping me till now. It is gradually becoming a habit these days as i wake up 3 or 4 minutes ahead of the first call to prayer which is around 5am. Being an early riser has been having a good impact on me and is really making me relaxed. These are a few of the changes i have seen.
I don't feel rushed anymore. As a teacher, my first class is at 7.45am during my non-early rising days i would typically wake up at 7 which leaves me with 45 minutes to cram taking a shower, ironing, having breakfast, trying to catch up on the news and making reviews of lessons i have to teach into those 45 minutes. I was always never on time to class usually being 10-15 minutes late. I also realised if i don't take time to savour my breakfast and i just gulp it down in a hurry, i became extremely hungry an hour or two after eating. These days waking up an hour earlier has made all the difference, i am always on time for classes, i also get to enjoy my breakfast more. There is a sense of peace knowing that everything is in order and i am right on time. Unlike back in the day when i would reach disorganised, dishevelled and sweaty.
Waking up early allow me to do a few of my interest before heading for class. Since i have some free minutes, i can indulge in things that i'm interested in. Going on twitter, reading a book, write a blog post, put down more ideas for a blog post, watch a few funny clips on youtube i mean things i do with that extra time are endless. For me catching up on the news whiles eating my breakfast before work is my most precious moment.
I am able to plan my day and the probability that i would follow through on my plans are usually high. Why waking up late might derail your plan is that, you don't have any time for yourself. Others have woken up as well they expect you to listen to their conversations, respond to their texts and your business and employer expects you to be productive so you end up trying to shove your interest such as checking your favourite soccer teams position on the league table or watching facebook pictures of the brunch you couldn't attend into your productive hours which makes you slack. Throwback: preaparing for a presentation and listening to hiphop music does not work.
Waking up early makes you a step ahead of competition. Let's face it, this world is a very competitive place to be. From co-workers to other buisnesses and startup who are into your line of business. For startups and entrepreneurs, the competition may be more pronounced and cutthroat. Therefore waking up early gives a clear head start to study, make proper research and analysis, add an extra touch to your project, presentation, product or whatever it is you're working on. Clients and employers notice when you put in that extra touch.
Finally there is the healthy eating and livestyle bit. Waking up early allows me to put a thought into what i'm eating because i don't use time as an excuse on why i didn't prepare an oatmeal for breakfast but ate the leftover of last nights khebab. As a recovering excessive junk food eater i realised i have to cut back on my meat and protein intake and spare sometime eating fruits, nuts and vegetables if i want to live past age 60. Having sometime allows me to exercise at least three times a week.
So there you go. These are my top five reasons for you to wake up early today. If doing it daily is too hard for you, start with two days a week then build up gradually. I bet you will enjoy the free time so much it would be a daily practise. Even if you call your self a "creative night owl" i encourage you to try it because the problem with pushing a task deep into the night is that you don't know what will set you back.